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The Ukrainian parliament after the government survived a no-confidence vote. Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images

Ukraine's parliament has rejected a motion to hold a no-confidence vote against the prime minister, who is allied with President Viktor Yanukovych, leaving the country's political tensions unresolved.

The motion on Tuesday fell short of the 226 votes required to oust Prime Minister Mykola Azarov over Ukraine's refusal to sign a historic European Union trade and political pact and instead more closely align with Russia.

Azarov had warned that the anti-government demonstrations in the capital, Kiev, are getting "out of control" and could turn into a coup.

Earlier, Al Jazeera's Rory Challands, reporting from Kiev, said the debate in parliament had descended into "shouting and shoving" between administration and opposition politicians.

"Blocking the work of state institutions is not a peaceful demonstration. This has all the signs of a coup," Azarov told ambassadors from the European Union, Canada and the United States. "That is very serious."